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(libc.info)Protocols Database

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Protocols Database
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   The communications protocol used with a socket controls low-level
details of how data are exchanged.  For example, the protocol implements
things like checksums to detect errors in transmissions, and routing
instructions for messages.  Normal user programs have little reason to
mess with these details directly.

   The default communications protocol for the Internet namespace
depends on the communication style.  For stream communication, the
default is TCP ("transmission control protocol").  For datagram
communication, the default is UDP ("user datagram protocol").  For
reliable datagram communication, the default is RDP ("reliable datagram
protocol").  You should nearly always use the default.

   Internet protocols are generally specified by a name instead of a
number.  The network protocols that a host knows about are stored in a
database.  This is usually either derived from the file
`/etc/protocols', or it may be an equivalent provided by a name server.
You look up the protocol number associated with a named protocol in
the database using the `getprotobyname' function.

   Here are detailed descriptions of the utilities for accessing the
protocols database.  These are declared in `netdb.h'.

 - Data Type: struct protoent
     This data type is used to represent entries in the network
     protocols database.  It has the following members:

    `char *p_name'
          This is the official name of the protocol.

    `char **p_aliases'
          These are alternate names for the protocol, specified as an
          array of strings.  The last element of the array is a null
          pointer.

    `int p_proto'
          This is the protocol number (in host byte order); use this
          member as the PROTOCOL argument to `socket'.

   You can use `getprotobyname' and `getprotobynumber' to search the
protocols database for a specific protocol.  The information is
returned in a statically-allocated structure; you must copy the
information if you need to save it across calls.

 - Function: struct protoent * getprotobyname (const char *NAME)
     The `getprotobyname' function returns information about the
     network protocol named NAME.  If there is no such protocol, it
     returns a null pointer.

 - Function: struct protoent * getprotobynumber (int PROTOCOL)
     The `getprotobynumber' function returns information about the
     network protocol with number PROTOCOL.  If there is no such
     protocol, it returns a null pointer.

   You can also scan the whole protocols database one protocol at a
time by using `setprotoent', `getprotoent' and `endprotoent'.  Be
careful when using these functions because they are not reentrant.

 - Function: void setprotoent (int STAYOPEN)
     This function opens the protocols database to begin scanning it.

     If the STAYOPEN argument is nonzero, this sets a flag so that
     subsequent calls to `getprotobyname' or `getprotobynumber' will
     not close the database (as they usually would).  This makes for
     more efficiency if you call those functions several times, by
     avoiding reopening the database for each call.

 - Function: struct protoent * getprotoent (void)
     This function returns the next entry in the protocols database.  It
     returns a null pointer if there are no more entries.

 - Function: void endprotoent (void)
     This function closes the protocols database.